COLUMBUS, Ohio - No. 1 Minnesota continued to roll on the first day of competition at the EAS Sports Nutrition/NWCA National Duals. Fresh off a win over previous No. 1 Penn State last week, the Golden Gophers had an opening round bye, then dominated in the quarterfinals with a 35-3 win over North Dakota State.

Minnesota was led by David Thorn (133) and Dylan Ness (149), who both recorded falls. With the win, Minnesota advances to the semifinals tomorrow afternoon and a showdown with Big Ten rival Ohio State.

“I think the guys showed tonight that they’re ready. They’re wrestling hard,” head J Robinson. “Tom Ryan brings a group of guys forward that wrestle hard, that wrestle intense, and that’s what we have to be ready for tomorrow.”

Host Ohio State, ranked No. 13 nationally and seeded fourth, advanced to the showdown with the top ranked Gophers after a 32-4 blowout of in-state rival Kent State. The Golden Flashes had upset Iowa State in the first round, 19-16. The two teams met earlier in the season, with the Buckeyes coming away with a 27-6 victory.

Ohio State started and ended the dual with technical falls, the first from 125-pounder Nick Roberts, who stopped Alfredo Gray 15-0, and the last from heavyweight Kosta Karageorge over Mimo Lytle 18-0. Kent State’s only win on the night came at 174 pounds when Caleb Marsh earned a 12-1 major decision over Jacob Bresciani.

Buckeye head Coach Tom Ryan knows what Minnesota will bring into tomorrow’s match, and understands that it will be one of his team’s toughest tests of the year.

“They’re tough. You’ve gotta be ready every second. Those guys come at you. They constantly move forward, they constantly pressure you, so it will be another level of intensity tomorrow,” Ryan said.

In the bottom half of the bracket, second-seeded Cornell rolled to 34-0 shutout win over Virginia Tech. Like Minnesota, Cornell had a bye in the first round.

The Big Red, ranked No. 4 nationally, won every close match, and then received bonus point performances from 184 pounder Gabe Dean, 16-7 over Nick Vetterlein, and 197-pounder Jace Bennett who upset Chris Penny with a third period fall.

In two consecutive ranked showdowns, returning all-American Mike Nevinger edged Eric Spjut 1-0 at 141, and Chris Villalonga bested all-American Zach Neibert 2-1 in tiebreaker 1 at 149. Top ranked Nahshon Garrett also continued to roll with a 7-2 decision over freshman Joey Dance at 125. Cornell remains unbeaten in dual meets so far this season.

Big Red head coach Rob Koll is excited for tomorrow’s semifinals, but says he hasn’t looked at the matchups yet.

“It doesn’t really matter what the matchups are, we can’t do anything about it. We’re not going to be able to juggle the lineup. We are what we are. We’re going to put our best guys out on the mat and if we win that’s great and if we don’t, we’ll lick our wounds and get ready for nationals.”

No. 11 ranked Oklahoma advances to the semifinals after wins over Bloomsburg and upset minded Central Michigan. The third-seeded Sooners knocked off the Chippewas 25-16 in the quarterfinals thanks to pins from returning national champion Kendrick Maple over Scott Mattingly at 149, and heavyweight Ross Larsen over Adam Robinson.

Sooner head coach Mark Cody is excited for tomorrow’s showdown with Cornell.

“I expect that to be a really good scrap tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a great match,” Cody said.

Monday’s action gets underway at 11 a.m. with the consolation quarterfinals. Virginia Tech takes on Chattanooga, Central Michigan faces off with Iowa State, Illinois will showdown with Kent State, and Oregon State will square off with North Dakota State.

Championship semifinal action begins at 1 p.m. with live coverage on Big Ten Network, and the placing rounds at 4 p.m., also on the Big Ten Network.